by Gregory Maguire
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| List Price: | $24.95 |
| Average Rating: |  |
| Lowest New Price: | $12.62 |
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Product Description
A lyrical work of stunning creative vision, Mirror Mirror is set in Renaissance Italy, where Gregory Maguire draws a connection between the poison apple in the original Snow White story and the Borgia family's well-known appetite for poisoning its foes. In Mirror Mirror Snow White is called Bianca de Nevada. She is born on a farm in Tuscany in 1495, and when she is seven, her father is ordered by the duplicitous Cesare Borgia to go on a quest to reclaim the relic of the original Tree of Knowledge, a branch bearing three living apples that are thousands of years old. Bianca is left in the care of her father's farm staff and the beautiful—and madly vain—Lucrecia Borgia, Cesare's sister. But Lucrecia becomes jealous of her lecherous brother's interest in the growing child and plots a dire fate for Bianca in the woods below the farm. There Bianca finds herself in the home of seven dwarves—the creators of the magic mirror—who await the return of their brother, the eighth dwarf, long gone on a quest of his own. In the evocative style of Maguire's earlier novels, Mirror Mirror is a fresh, compelling take on a beloved classic tale.
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Average Customer Review:
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
 Good, 2008-10-08
I agree this was a bit slow, but the writing was beautiful. When compared to the others by GM, it suffers somewhat, but if it was the only book he'd written I'd have been blown away.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
 Still great, 2008-10-02
While this has been my least favorite of the Maguire books that I've read (although, admittedly I have not read Lost, which I've understood to be not quite Maguire caliber) I am still awarding it 5 stars because it was still one of the most amazing reads! I have said this is in other Maguire reviews, but I love the worlds he creates. The imagery and storytelling is unrivaled. I love that he takes incredible scenarios and makes them totally believable, such as the dwarfs, the apples, etc. All of the magic and fantasy that happens in the worlds Maguire creates seem totally plausible and time and time again I find myself getting wrapped up in his stories. If you've never read a Gregory Maguire book, I'd suggest Wicked or Confession of an Ugly Stepsister first, but if you are a fan of Maguires works this will not disappoint at all!
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
 Dull, Boring, Uninteresting and Disappointing, 2008-10-02
Allow me to begin by first praising Gregory Maguire on some of his other achievements - Wicked, Son of a Witch and Stepsister. That being said, I was thoroughly disappointed and completely bored with this book. Usually Maguire's level of detail spreads a wide angeled view of the world he's created, with a balanced measure of specifics. In other words, you don't just read about the surrounding hills, for example, but you read some history about them as well, whether pertaining to the plot or not. It develops a richer atmosphere in his stories - the antagonist is not only surrounded by hills in the landscape (for example), but by the history of events which took place in those hills. It develops mood. Usually this technique works.
Mirror, Mirror - however - was at times overly detailed, and yet ironically passed over; if I watered-down paint and spread it around, and then talked to you for an hour about the hue and brush strokes, (instead of why the paint was watered-down), you might have an understanding of what I mean here. While a similiar technique may have worked in other books, it does not here. The reader is left bored, and uninspired to continue reading. Is that any way for an author to approach a story? One would think an author would want the details - whether watered-down or thickly lain - to inspire the reader to turn the next page. I found myself instead clamming the book shut in bored disgust, and then forcing it open later just to complete the story. I haven't been this bored (yet desired to complete a novel) since high school. It felt like required reading, not pleasured reading.
Wicked, Son of a Witch and Stepsister are good novels - I am anticipating Lion of a Man to be a good novel, too. Read those, but if you read this one, don't expect much. Perhaps my expectations of Mirror, Mirror were somehow skewed by his other, more successful, books? Perhaps then, if you've never read any of his other stories, and you go into this book with low expectations, you might be pleased by the experience. Otherwise, I couldn't recommend this particular Maguire novel.
I will continue to try his books - (like M. Night Shamalan movies, you never know if it's going to be good or if it's going to leave you wishing you had all that time back to do over) - but I will have this bad taste in my mouth while reading his books.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
Not Bad, 2008-09-29
Not bad. The ending sucked, but it was an interesting take on Snow White.
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful:
Nice change, 2008-09-02
It took awhile for this book to catch my interest. I am not sure I understood the ending, but was eager to find out how the story ended. My expectations were probably too high because I expected more out of the book. However, I have recommended this book to a friend. I liked the blending of historical fiction and a fairy tale. It was a nice change from other popular books.
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